Safety sides for beds

ABSTRACT

A SAFETY SIDE FOR A BED, INCLUDING A CLAMP FOR ENGAGEMENT WITH A LONGITUDINAL MEMBER OF THE BED, AN ARM PIVOTALLY CONNECTED TO THE CLAMP, AND A FENCE STRUCTURE PIVOTALLY CONNECTED TO THE ARM. THE FENCE MAY PIVOT RELATIVE TO THE ARM BETWEEN A POSITION IN WHICH IT PREVENTS A PERSON FALLING OUT OF BED AND A POSITION IN WHICH IT EXTENDS GENERALLY PERPENDICULAR TO THE MATTRESS SO THAT IT MAY CONSTITUTE A HAND-HOLD FOR A PERSON ON THE BED AS THE BED IS RAISED FROM A HORIZONTAL TO A VERTICAL POSITION. THE FENCE AND ARM MAY PIVOT RELATIVE TO THE CLAM FROM THE POSITION IN WHICH THE FENCE PREVENTS A PERSON FALLING OUT OF BED TO A POSITION IN WHICH IT IS BENEATH THE BED AND OUT OF THE WAY FOR BED MAKING. SAFETY SIDES ARE PROVIDED AT BOTH SIDES OF A BED AND THE CLAMPS OF THE TWO SAFETY SIDE ARE RIGIDLY INTERCONNECTED.

06!. 1971 K. M. AGNEW SAFETY SIDES FOR BEDS 3 ShcetsSheet 1 Filed Aug.26, 1969 Oct. 26, 1971 AGNEW SAFETY SIDES FOR BEDS 3 Shcets-Sheot 2Filed Aug. 26, 1969 Oct. 26, 1971 K. M. AGNEW SAFETY SIDES FOR mans 5Shcots--$l1eet 5 Filed Aug. 26, 1969 United States at 3,614,795 SAFETYSIDES FOR BEDS Kenneth Malcolm Agnew, London, England, assignor toNational Research Development Corporation, London, England Filed Aug.26, 1969, Ser. No. 853,011 Claims priority, application Great Britain,Aug. 29, 1968, 41,363/ 68 lint. Cl. A47c 21/00; A47d 7/02; A47f /00 US.Ci. 5-331 8 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE lDllSClUUSURE A safety side for abed, including a clamp for engagement with a longitudinal member of thebed, an arm pivotally connected to the clamp, and a fence structurepivotally connected to the arm. The fence may pivot relative to the armbetween a position in which it prevents a person falling out of bed anda position in which it extends generally perpendicular to the mattressso that it may constitute a hand-hold for a person on the bed as the bedis raised from a horizontal to a vertical position. The fence and armmay pivot relative to the clamp from the position in which the fenceprevents a person falling out of bed to a position in which it isbeneath the bed and out of the way for bed making. Safety sides areprovided at both sides of a bed and the clamps of the two safety sidesare rigidly interconnected.

This invention relates to safety sides for beds.

Safety sides, for preventing a person, for example a patient, fallingout of bed, are known. Particularly in hospitals, it is a necessity thatsafety sides should be displaceable to a position or a condition inwhich they do not interfere with bed making or treatment of a patient onthe bed. Among the safety sides which have been proposed are those whichconsist of a rigid structure which, when not required for preventing apatient falling out of bed, have to be taken off the bed. Such types ofsafety side evidently present problems of storage whether for short orlong periods. Another known form of safety side consists of a fencestructure, mounted on the bed frame, and including upper and lowerhorizontal members with transverse members parallel to one another,extending between and pivotally connected at their ends to the upper andlower horizontal members. Such safety sides may be raised from anin-operative position to an operative position in which they prevent apatient falling out of bed, by moving the upper horizontal member in avertical plane under the constraint of the transverse members whichpivot relative to the upper and lower members. Such safety sides havethe disadvantage that they can interfere with bed making even when inthe lowered, inoperative position.

It is an object of the present invention to provide an improved safetyside for a bed.

According to the present invention, there is provided a safety side fora bed, comprising a clamp engageable with a longitudinal member of abed, an arm pivotally connected to the clamp for pivotal movementrelative to the clamp about a first axis which is generally parallel tothe said longitudinal member when the clamp is engaged with thelongitudinal member, an elongate fence struc ture pivotally connected tothe arm for pivotal movement relative to the arm about a second axiswhereby, when the clamp is engaged with the longitudinal member of thebed, the fence structure may be pivoted about said second axis from afirst position in which it extends generally parallel to and above theplane of the longitudinal member from a region above the clamp towardsthe head of the bed, to a second position wherein it extends up-3,,fildfl Patented Uct. 26, 1971.

wards above the plane of the longitudinal member in a region between theclamp and the foot of the bed, the fence structure being pivotable withthe arm about said first axis from said first position to a thirdposition in which said fence structure is disposed beneath the plane ofsaid longitudinal member of the bed.

A lock for preventing pivotal motion of the arm about said first axismay include a manually operable cam pivotally mounted on the arm andadapted to bear against the clamp.

A catch may be provided which is pivotally mounted on the arm andmovable between positions in one of which the catch engages the fencestructure and prevents the fence structure moving from said second tosaid first position.

The fence structure may be telescopic whereby, when it is in its firstposition, the end of the fence structure remote from the clamp may beadjacent the bed head whatever the position, within limits, of the clampalong the longitudinal member.

A bed preferably has two safety sides each in accordance with thepresent invention.

The clamps of safety sides at the two sides of the bed may be rigidlyconnected by a member extending transversely of the bed beneath theplane of the longitudinal members of the bed.

The said second axis may be so directed that, when the safety side isoperatively associated with a bed, the plane of the fence structure issubstantially vertical in said first position and, when in said secondposition, is inclined to the vertical and extends over the bed.

An embodiment of the present invention will now be described by way ofexample, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 illustrates a side elevation of a bed fitted with a safety sidein accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 2 illustrates a portion of the apparatus illustrated in FIG. 1, onan enlarged scale;

FIG. 3 illustrates a view, partially in section, taken on the lineIII-III in FIG. 1, and on an enlarged scale; and

FIG. 4 illustrates a view similar to that of FIG. 3 with parts indifferent relative positions.

In FIG. 1 there is illustrated a bed including rectangular-sectionlongitudinal side members 1, end transverse members 3, 5 andintermediate transverse members 7. A deck 9 is carried by the side andtransverse members 1, 3, 5, 7. A mattress 11 lies on the deck 9.

The end transverse member 5 supports a bed head 13 which is readilyremovable. The end transverse member 3 is adapted to mount a bed foot(not shown) which is also readily removable.

A safety side 15 in accordance with the present invention is provided ateach side of the bed, but for the purposes of illustration anddescription only one safety side is illustrated and will be described,it being understood that the other safety side is of similar mechanicalconstruction.

The safety side 15 includes a clamp 17 for engagement with thelongitudinal side member 1. The clamp 17 (see FIG. 4), which isfunctionally similar to a G-clamp, comprises an arm 19 extending overthe top of the side member 1, and an upright body 21, with which the arm19 is integral and which extends downwardly from the arm 19 at the sideof the side member 1 outboard of the bed. Towards the lower end of thebody 21 there is secured, as by welding, to the body 21 a member 23which extends beneath the side member 1 to the other side of the bed andat its other end the member 23 is secured to the body 21 of the clamp 17at the other side of the bed. The two clamps 17 are unified by thecommon member 23.

A turn screw 25, with a manually engageable knurled knob 27, extendsthrough and is threadably engaged with the member 23 and the end of theturn screw 25 remote from the knurled knob 27 is engageable directly orindirectly with the underside of the side member 1. A lock nut 31 isprovided on the turn screw 25.

The arm 19 is provided at its underside with a bearing pad 29 whichbears directly or indirectly against the upper side of the sidemember 1. In the present example, the hearing pad 29 bears indirectly onthe side member 1 because the margin of the deck 9 extends over theupper side of the side member 1 and downwardly over the outboard side ofthe side member 1.

As may be seen in FIG. 4, the body 21 of the clamp is close adjacent theoutboard side of the side member 1 so that the clamps with their commonmember 23 cannot move substantially in horizontal directions frompositions relative to the bed in which the member 23 is normal to thevertical planes of the side member 1. In this way, the clamps 17 areconstrained to maintain positions in which they are both spaced by asubstantially common distance from the head of the bed.

At a position inboard of the side member 1 the member 23 carries a pivotpin 33, the axis of which is parallel to the longitudinal side member 1.

An arm 35 is carried by the pivot pin 33 for pivotal motion about theaxis of the pivot pin 33, which axis constitutes a first axis forpivotal motion of parts of the safety side.

The lower portion of the arm 35 is bifurcated and its two limbs 37 aredisposed one at each side of the clamp 17, that is, one limb 37 isdisposed at the side of the clamp towards the foot of the bed and theother limb 37 is disposed at the side of the clamp towards the head ofthe bed. An intermediate portion 39 (see FIG. 2) of the arm 35 is ofchannel section adapted to embrace an upper portion of the body 21 ofthe clamp 17. The limbs 37 of the lower portion of the arm 35 areextensions of the sides of the channel-section intermediate portion 39of the arm.

When the arm 35 is in the upright position illustrated in FIGS. 1, 2 and3, the intermediate, channel-section portion 39 of the arm extendsupwardly above the plane of the upper surface of the side member. Thesides of the channel-section have lugs 41 extending over the uppersurface of the side member and at each side of and above the arm 19 ofthe clamp.

The upper portion 43 of the arm 35 constitutes a trunnion having a pivotpin 44 pivotally mounting a fence structure 45 of the safety side. Theaxis of pivotal motion of the fence structure 45, which constitutes asecond axis of motion, is inclined upwardly in the direction outwardlysideways of the bed and is inclined slightly towards the head of the bedwhen viewed in plan and considered in.

the direction from the outside of the bed to over the bed.

The fence structure 45 comprises two parallel tubular members 47, 49integral or fixedly connected, as by welding, to a member 51 whichextends at one end into the trunnion 43. Telescopically disposed in thetubular members 47, 49 are the limbs of a generally U-shaped member 52.When the fence structure 45 is in a position, as illustrated in solidlines in FIG. 1, for preventing a patient falling out of bed, thetransverse portion of the U-shaped member 52 is disposed between twoparallel, spaced apart, vertically disposed plates 53 secured to theside upright member of the bed head 13. Secured to the plates 53 is acatch 55 spring biassed to a position in which it prevents movement ofthe U-shaped member 52 away from the bed head 13.

In order to maintain the fence structure and arm 35 in positions abovethe deck 9, that is, in order to prevent the arm 35 pivoting about thefirst axis, that is the axis of the pivot pin 33, a lock is providedwhich consists of a cam 56 pivotally mounted in the lugs 41 for movementabout an axis parallel to the side member 1 above the arm 19 of theclamp 17. The cam 56 may be rocked by a lever 57 between a firstposition (illustrated in broken lines in FIG. 3) in which it engages theupper surface of the arm 19 of the clamp 17 when the arm 35 is uprightand prevents rocking movement of the arm 35. about the pivot pin 33, anda second position (illustrated in chain lines in FIG. 3) which allowspivotal movement of the arm 35 about the pivot pin 33.

Pivotal movement about the pivot pin 33 allows the fence structure 45 tobe moved between a position (illustrated in solid lines in FIG. 1) inwhich it prevents a patient falling out of bed, and a second position45" in which it and the arm 35 do not interfere with bed making, i.e.the fence is disposed beneath the plane of the deck 9. A hook 61 isprovided to support the fence structure 45 when in this lowered position45.

Pivotal movement about the pivot pin 33 provides for getting the fencestructure out of the way, for example, during bed making. However, thesecond pivotal movement about the pivot axis of the trunnion 43 allowsthe fence structure to be moved to an upright position (illustrated at45 in FIG. 1) which allows unrestricted access to the upper portion ofthe body of a patient on the bed. However, the particular form of bedillustrated in FIG. 1 is a bed of which the deck may be pivoted about anaxis, approximately located at 62, from a horizontal to a nearlyvertical position. Such a bed is described in copending U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 853,008, filed in the names of Kenneth MalcolmAgnew and Timothy Coward on the same day as this application. The bed isintended for raising a patient from a supine to an upright position.Prior to raising the bed, a special bed foot is attached to thetransverse member 3 so that as the patient is raised to the uprightposition his feet, or remaining foot, in the case of an amputee, maybear on the bed foot which has (a continuous surface rather than an openframework as is customary in a conventional bed foot. When in uprightpositions 45, the fence structure constitute hand holds for the patientto steady himself as the deck pivots about axis 62.

As described above, the pivot axis of the trunnion 43 is inclined toboth a horizontal plane and to a vertical plane normal to thelongitudinal side members 1 of the bed, this being considered when thebed is horizontal and the safety side is in an operative position forpreventing a patient falling out of bed. Because of these inclinationsof the pivot axis of the trunnion 43, while the fence structure 45 isdisposed in a substantially vertical plane when in the position forpreventing a patient falling out of bed, when the fence structure is ina position (position 45') in which it acts as a hand hold for a patientbeing raised, the plane of the fence structure is inclined to thevertical so that it extends over the bed and it is also inclined to thelongitudinal axis of the side member so that the tubular member 47 isnearer the centre of the bed than the tubular member 49. In this way theportions of the tubular members 49 which will be gripped by a patientare nearer together than the trunnions 43, which provides a moreconvenient arrangement for the patient because his hands and arms may benearer his sides.

When the fence structure is in the position 45' in which it constitutesa hand hold, a portion of the member 45 lies on the bed of the trunnion43, as can be seen in FIG. 2. As can be seen in FIGS. 1 and 2, the pivotpin of the trunnion is located at a position in the trunnion which isnearer the head than the foot of the bed in order to provide a largearea of contact between the bed of the trunnion and the member 45. t

The fence structure is held against rocking from the hand hold positiontowards the position in which it pre vents a patient falling out of bed,by a spring-biassed catch 71 pivotally mounted on the arm 35.

The position of the fence structure, when constituting a hand hold, maybe adjusted longitudinally of the bed by releasing the clampingengagement of the clamps on the side members 1, by turning the knurledknobs 27, and by moving the safety sides in unison. The clamps aresubsequently re-engaged with the side members 1 by manipulation of theknurled knobs 27. It is because the position of the clamps along the bedmay be varied that the fence structure is telescopic. In this way thefence structure may be used to prevent a patient falling out of bedWhatever the positions, within limits, of the clamps on the sidemembers. The fence structure is also made telescopic because its lengthin the safety side position has to be greater than the length requiredin the hand hold position. As can be seen in FIG. 1, the member 52 hasbeen telescoped into the tubular members 47, 49 when the fence is in thehand hold position 45'.

I claim: 1. A safety side for a bed, comprising: a clamp adapted toengage a longitudinal member of a bed;

an arm; first pivot means having a first pivot axis generally parallelto the longitudinal member when the clamp is engaged with thelongitudinal member and adapted to pivotally mount said arm on saidclamp; an elongate fence structure; second pivot means having a secondpivot axis generally horizontal and generally transverse to thelongitudinal member when the clamp is engaged with the longitudinalmember and adapted to pivotally mount said fence structure on said arm,whereby when the clamp is engaged with the longitudinal member of thebed, the fence structure may be pivoted about said second pivot axisfrom a first position in which it extends generally parallel to, andabove the plane of, the longitudinal member from a region above theclamp towards the head of the bed, to a second position wherein it cantsupwards above the plane of the longitudinal member in a region betweenthe clamp and the foot of the bed, said fence structure being pivotabletogether with said arm about said first pivot axis from said firstposition to a third position in which said fence structure is disposedbeneath the plane of said longitudinal member of the bed. 2. A safetyside as claimed in claim 1, including: a lock having: a manuallyoperable cam; and pivot means adapted to pivotally mount said cam onsaid arm; said manually operable cam being movable between positions inone of which the cam bears on said clamps whereby said lock preventspivotal motion of said arm about said first axis. 3. A safety side asclaimed in claim 1, including: a catch; pivot means adapted to pivotallymount said catch on said arm; said catch being movable between positionsin one of which the catch engages the fence structure and prevents thefence structure moving from said second to said first position. 4. Asafety side as claimed in claim 1, wherein: said fence structureincludes first and second parts; the first part being adapted totelescope into and out of the second part, whereby the distance betweenthe end of the fence structure remote from the clamp and the clamp maybe adjusted.

5. A bed including:

longitudinal members disposed one at each side of the bed; and twosafety sides each including:

a clamp releasably secured to a respective one of said side members;

an arm;

first pivot means having a first pivot axis generally parallel to thelongitudinal member when the clamp is engaged with the longitudinalmember and adapted to pivotally mount said arm on said clamp;

an elongate fence structure;

second pivot means having a second pivot axis generally horizontal andgenerally transverse to the longitudinal member when the clamp isengaged with the longitudinal member and adapted to pivotally mount saidfence structure on said arm whereby said fence structure may be pivotedabout said second pivot axis from a first position in which it extendsgenerally parallel to, and above the plane of, the longitudinal memberfrom a region above the clamp towards the head of the bed, to a secondposition wherein it cants above the plane of the longitudinal member ina region between the clamp and the foot of the bed,

said fence structure being adapted to be pivoted together with said armabout said first pivot axis from said first position to a third positionin which said fence structure is disposed beneath the plane of saidlongitudinal member of the bed.

6. A bed as claimed in claim 5, wherein:

each of said fence structures includes:

first and second parts;

the first part being adapted to telescope into and out of said secondpart whereby the end of said first part remote from said clamp may beadjacent the head of the bed whatever the position, within limits, ofthe clamp on the longitudinal member.

7. A bed as claimed in claim 5, wherein:

said second pivot axis of each of said safety sides is so directed thatthe plane of the fence sturcture is substantially vertical in said firstposition and when in said second position is inclined to the verticaland extends over the bed.

8. A bed as claimed in claim 5, including:

a member extending between and rigidly connected to the clamps of saidsafety sides, said member being disposed transversely of said bedbeneath the plane of said longitudinal members.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 908,904 1/1909 Thurm 53311,255,539 2/1918 Kuderer 297-417 3,195,153 7/1965 Armstrong et al. 5-3313,290,701 12/1966 Luff 5331 3,336,609 8/1967 Taylor 5331 3,419,922 1/1969 Malherbe 5331 1,266,367 5/1918 Wilson 248284 X PAUL R. GILLIAM,Primary Examiner US. Cl. X.R.

r Sl00; 248-284

